Full Potential Dog Training

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Hershey, PA
Full Potential Dog Training

FPDT offers in-home dog evaluations and training using positive and balanced reinforcement.

10/31/2026

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
If your dog enjoys dressing up, we want to see them!
Are they a hot dog? A dinosaur? A superhero? Something ridiculously elaborate that took you three weeks to make? Or did you put a witch hat on them for approximately four seconds before they decided absolutely not?
Drop a picture of your dog's Halloween costume in the comments! Bonus points if you tell us what they're dressed as.
And remember: if your dog hates costumes, they are officially allowed to participate as themselves.

10/29/2026

Your Dog Doesn't Need to Go Trick-or-Treating
I know it sounds fun to bring the dog along while the kids trick-or-treat, but for most dogs, Halloween night is a LOT.
Think about what your dog is seeing. It's dark, the neighborhood is busier than usual, kids are running and yelling, people are wearing masks and costumes, decorations are moving, doorbells are ringing, and there may be other dogs everywhere. Even a normally social, confident dog can get overwhelmed pretty quickly.

Adolescent dogs can have an especially hard time because they're still developing emotionally and learning how to sort out what's important in their environment. Add excitement, novelty and a little uncertainty together, and their ability to make good decisions tends to go downhill.

Your dog isn't missing out by staying home. Honestly, most dogs would probably choose the quiet house if we could ask them.

Give them a walk earlier in the day, set them up somewhere comfortable with a good chew or stuffed Kong, and go enjoy trick-or-treating without worrying about what your dog is doing at the other end of the leash.

10/28/2026

Leaving your dog home during trick-or-treating is usually the best choice, but remember that being home doesn't automatically make Halloween easy.

The doorbell rings. Your dog barks. You open the door. There's a group of strangely dressed children standing outside. The door closes.
Two minutes later, you do it all over again.

By the tenth round, your dog may be WAY more worked up than they were when the evening started.

Rather than spending three hours telling your dog to stop barking, manage the situation before trick-or-treating starts. A baby gate, crate, bedroom or quiet space farther away from the front door can make everyone's night easier. Add some white noise, turn on the TV, and give them something they enjoy doing.

Management isn't cheating! And we don't have to turn every difficult situation into a training exercise.

10/21/2026

Meet Cosmo! This young pup is sweet, wiggly and loves everyone and everything. Lowe's was an absolute blast and he did great. I met him when he was really young and since then his world has changed in such a great way. He has a toddler sibling and now a set of twins to explore. This family worked hard and it showed! Keep in touch and stay sweet!

10/20/2026

Halloween brings a whole collection of things into the house that dogs really shouldn't have access to. Chocolate gets most of the attention, but it's not the only concern. Sugar-free candy can contain xylitol, which is extremely dangerous for dogs. Raisins are toxic, wrappers can cause intestinal problems, and those little plastic toys and decorations are awfully tempting to a dog who likes putting everything in their mouth.

Then there are the decorations. Electrical cords, candles, fake cobwebs, glow sticks and small decorations can all become a problem surprisingly quickly.

Adolescent dogs are particularly good at finding the ONE thing you forgot to put away. If you've ever lived with a teenage dog, you know exactly what I mean.

So enjoy decorating! Just take a quick look around afterward from your dog's perspective. Keep candy somewhere truly inaccessible, secure cords, skip unattended candles, and keep anything chewable or swallowable out of reach.

A little prevention is much easier than an emergency vet visit.

10/15/2026

As the weather cools down, I often see dogs suddenly come ALIVE on their walks. They're moving faster, sniffing more and generally feeling pretty good after months of summer heat.

That doesn't necessarily mean you need to start adding miles. Let them use their nose!

A twenty-minute walk where your dog gets to sniff, explore and process the environment can be incredibly fulfilling. Sniffing isn't wasted walking time. Your dog's brain is gathering information about who has been there, what's changed and what's happening in the neighborhood.

For adolescent dogs in particular, I like walks that involve a combination of movement, training and opportunities to just be a dog. Practice walking together for a bit. Stop and sniff. Work on a few check-ins. Go explore something interesting.

Your walk doesn't have to look like exercise from beginning to end for it to be valuable.

10/12/2026

We talk a lot about socialization when dogs are puppies, and sometimes that gets interpreted as "my dog should be comfortable with absolutely everything."
That's not really the goal.

I want dogs who can move through the world confidently, but confidence doesn't mean they need to interact with (and LOVE) every person, dog or strange object they encounter.

October is a great example. Your neighbor puts a twelve-foot skeleton in the yard. Someone walks toward you wearing a mask. There's an inflatable ghost moving in the wind.
Your adolescent dog stops and says, "I'm not sure about that." That's okay.

Give them enough distance to look. Reward them for checking back in with you. If they want to investigate safely, great. If they'd rather keep moving, that's okay too.
Forcing a dog closer to something they're worried about doesn't teach them to be brave. Giving them the opportunity to process it while feeling safe is much more useful.

10/09/2026

The days are getting shorter, which means a lot of evening walks that happened in daylight a few weeks ago are suddenly happening in the dark.
Don't be surprised if your adolescent dog notices.

Dogs obviously see differently than we do, but there's another piece of this that matters: things LOOK different in the dark. A trash can becomes a weird silhouette. Someone walking toward you in a hood is harder to identify. That decorative inflatable moving in someone's yard definitely wasn't there yesterday.

For a dog already going through developmental changes, those differences can be enough to make familiar places feel unfamiliar.

If your dog suddenly stops and stares at something they've walked past a hundred times, give them a second. Let them gather information rather than immediately pulling them toward it.

Sometimes what looks like stubbornness is really just a teenage brain saying, "Hang on. I need to figure out what that is."

10/05/2026

Meet Remy!
I first met Remy and his owners in a puppy class I was teaching. He did great in class, but as we all know, sometimes the real challenges show up once you get back home and into everyday life.

His family wanted a little extra help, so we got to work! We added some new tools and strategies that made sense for their home and their routine, and they absolutely nailed it.

Congratulations, Remy (and family)! Keep up the great work!

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Hershey, PA
17033

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http://www.fullpotentialdogtraining.com/

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